Running Posture
Check your posture periodically, because it's common to slouch as you get tired.

• Keep your head up high and centered between your shoulders.
• Bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle; keep arms close to your body.
• Push back through your big toe.
• Your foot should land under your hip.
• Loosely cup your hands.
• Relax your jaw and shoulders.
• Direct your gaze straight ahead.

Cooldown Exercises
Calf stretch with belt
What it does: Stretches the muscles and joints around the foot, ankle, and back of the knee, which allows you to run more fluidly.

How to do it: Lie on your back on a mat. Bring in your left leg so you can place a strap, long towel, or belt around the arch or ball of your foot. Holding the ends of the strap in your hands, straighten your left leg and raise your foot toward the ceiling; keep your right leg either straight or bent with the foot flat on the floor, whichever feels more comfortable. Flex your left toes to engage your calf muscles, and use the strap to gently pull them toward your shin. Take five to 12 deep breaths. Lower your left leg to the floor, and repeat on the opposite side.

Hip Stretch with Belt
What it does: Stretches the muscles in your hip complex; gives you greater range of motion; decompresses the ball-and-socket joint in your hip.

How to do it: Lie on your back on a mat. Place a strap just below the ball of your left foot, and then hold both ends of the strap in your right hand. Place your left arm flat on the floor so that it creates a 90-degree angle with your torso. Straighten your left leg, raising your foot toward the ceiling and flexing the toes; keep your right leg straight on the floor. Focus on keeping both shoulders on the ground. Take a deep breath and exhale, slowly lowering your left leg across your body until it hovers a few inches above the floor. Inhale and slowly raise your foot up toward the ceiling. Repeat three to five times. Now drop your left leg across your body and hold it there for five to 12 breaths. Repeat on the opposite side.

Standing Hamstring Stretch
What it does: Decompresses muscles and joints in and around your knee; rejuvenates deep hip muscles and lengthens your waist.

How to do it: Stand a foot away from the back of a chair and hold on to it with hands shoulder-width apart. Walk your feet backward several steps; your elbows should be straight but not locked, feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent. Take five deep breaths; imagine your waist lengthening. Shift your weight onto your left leg. Inhale and raise your right leg behind you. Exhale and straighten your left leg, and then inhale and lift your right leg a few more inches. Hold for five to 12 breaths. Repeat on opposite side.